Cave-In

[knux400]

"What happened to me?"
"Who are you?"
"Where am I?"

"Your name is Pillbug. You're a barebones, an artificial lifeform. A machine, controlled by an intricate series of code and algorithms. You've just been activated for the first time."

that



makes sense




"My name is Jorge. I'm a barebones too, like you. My body is a bit different to yours since I'm a Biped frame and you're a Crawler frame. Barebones can take many different forms, and we can even change what we look like over the course of our lives."



those words   seem

correct


"You're on my living room floor. Right now there's a cable in your midsection connected to the wall outlet. Your body is still charging for the first time, so you might still be feeling a bit woozy. Just try to take it easy, it'll be another few minutes before you're operating at a regular capacity."




"Why?"

"Why what?"


...


"Are you asking why I built you?"


...



"It's... complicated. There's a lot of feelings and desires behind it that you wouldn't understand yet. I guess part of it is sort of... a desire for companionship? I mean, it's more than that, but that's a decent way to summarize it. But most of it was carrying on the legacy of another. Just as I created you, I was myself created, by a Sheala frame named Sweetweed. She also had a creator, a Crawler named Truffle."

jorge        turns away


what     is it looking at?


there isn't an object      in the vicinity of       its gaze


"...She passed away about a week ago. Me and Sweetweed were both there. Her memory banks were getting overfull, but she couldn't afford to transfer them anywhere, but she didn't want to delete them, either. She ended up accidentally writing memory data over parts of her operating system, and eventually she couldn't function anymore."



...


"Most of her actual body was pretty well-maintained. I had to patch it up in a few places, and replace some of the internal components, but for the most part..."


"That's her body you're using."


...

"We carry on the legacy of others through recycling and reusing as much of them as we can. Truffle's body was itself made up of bits and pieces from other barebones before her, and those barebones from other previous barebones, and so on. It's efficient, but it's also like... life after life. Even when you're not around anymore, you're still there in a sense, living through others. Helping them through their lives. If we discard a part of someone that still has the potential to be used, that's... denying them that chance. It would be just as bad as killing them all over again."

"So that's why you're here. Just by existing, you're continuing the legacy of Truffle and all those who came before. That's why I created you."

there is

a lot

that you don't       understand about this






but


it makes sense

it would be efficient to recycle used components rather than source new ones


this      seems to be  significant      for jorge
there is        context        you are missing

but       you're still too tired to think              so


you       understand          for now

"I understand."









You eventually hit the floor. Hard. Even with your shell absorbing most of the impact, you can feel one of the hinges on your legs popping out of place. Rocks and debris fall all around you as you stay tucked in for what feels like an eternity- but that's your fear talking, you remind yourself. So far the debris has been falling for thirty-two seconds after you landed. Given your position at the edge of the pit, you should be above the majority of the debris. You're not sure how many stalactites fell from the ceiling, but those and any Nymphs that got caught in the wave of goo would be the most dangerous thing likely to fall on you at this point. You stay in your shell until the roar of debris slows to a small crumble, and then stops.

You let out a high-pitched whine and wait, staying hidden inside your shell. After a moment, your audio processors detect the noise as it resounds through the cave around you, and an image of your surroundings pieces itself together in your mind. You're in a tunnel, not unlike the one you traveled through to get here. There doesn't seem to be any upward-facing opening nearby, so you're not sure which direction you came from. There's surprisingly little debris around you, considering how large the cave floor was. And that liquid that washed over you is gone, save for a few shallow puddles. In fact, the tunnel is essentially empty.

Apart from you.